Margin-stretching wiper for folding machines



Oct. 14, 1952 A. OSWALD M ARGIN-STRETCHING WIPER FOR FOLDING MACHINES Filed Sept. 21 1951 Inventor Alfons Oswald B is tzo 6y Y,

Patented Oct. 14, 1952 MARGIN-STRETCHING WIPER FOR FOLDING MACHINES Alfons Oswald, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application September 21, 1951, Serial No. 247,687 In Great Britain November 10, 1950 6 Claims.

This invention relates to folding machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,301,202, granted November 10, 1942 upon an application filed by Paul H. Dixon. The improvement relates to mechanism for increasng the tightness of the foldand is shown in connection with the folding of Frenchbinding, as in the patented machine, although it should be understood that it is in no sense limited to that use. I

Folding machines designed particularly for use upon the margins of shoe parts depend in large measure for their success upon their ability to produce a folded edge of good appearance. In French-binding work it is necessary that the fold shall be tight and, at times, it is particularly desired to make a very tight fold with a resulting narrow head or cord-where the binding is turned over its own margin and then around the edge of the work.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved mechanism for producing a narrow, tight fold and especially in connection with French-binding work.

In the illustrated machine, the hammer which serves also to feed the work has mounted thereon a movable binding-stretching device and, in accordance with a feature of the invention, the operation of the device, to cause it to wipe across the binding, is dependent upon the movement of the hammer in line with the margin of the work. The particular construction herein described provides a spring for actuating the binding-stretching member and this spring is energized during the return movement of the hammer just as it completes a cycle of its movement and before it descends into reengagement with the work. Then, as the hammer moves down and then forward with the work, the stretching device is caused to wipe across the binding.

Theseand other features of the invention will best'be understood from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a'plan view of the novel mechanism mounted upon the head of the hammer of a folding machine;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a folding machine such as that described in the patent above mentioned but with the added mechanism included therein and Fig. 3 is a detail view in front elevation of the binding-stretching member and the hammer head.

As in other folding machines of the type described, much of the mechanism is carried by a lower frame arm ill at the top outer end of which there is a work table 52. This supports the body M of the work piece on which there is a French binding strip l8, attached in the usual fashion. Also carried by the arm [0 is a folding finger 18 for partially folding the margin of the work, which finger cooperates with a creaser foot 20 supported by an upper frame arm (not shown). The folding finger is oscillated about a pivot 22 and the fold is completed by the cooperative action of a hammer 24 and its anvil 26. The latter members are given a relative movement about a hinge pin 28 to open and close upon the work and are also mounted for oscillation about an axis coinciding with the center of a rod 30 which movesthe hammer back and forth to close it upon the work. This oscillation carries th hammer and anvil in the direction of the margin of the work toward and away from the observer in Fig. 3 and provides a fourmotion action" in which the hammer closes upon the work, carries it forward, rises away from the work, and returns idly above the work, whereupon the cycle is repeated. It will be understood that the action of the hammer is upon a portion of the binding just beyond or forward of the portion which has been turned up by the folding finger l8 and pressed against the creaser foot 20.

To improve the tightness of the fold and to stretch the binding as tightly as possible around the edge of the work hi the invention provides a stretching and wiping member d8 having a down-turned end portion 42 with a serrated edge 44 which extends slightly below the work engaging face of the hammer and which, as will be later described, is given a swinging movement to carry the serrated edge outwardly of the ham- .mer and to the left as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 to wipe across the binding. The stretching member is supported in a rectangular groove 48 of a bell crank 48 pivotally mounted upon a bracket 50 which is attached to the upper side of the hammer 24 by means of screws 52 shown in Fig. 1., The stretching member 4i! is fixed in the groove 46 of the bell crank by an attaching screw 54 and the bell crank is pivotally mounted on the bracket 50 by a pivot pin 56 held in position by a set screw 58 and having a head 60 lying in a recess at the bottom of the groove 46 so that it will not interfere with the stretching member. The bracket 50 is substantially horizontal when the hammer is in engagement with the work.

Swinging movement of the stretching member 40 to carry it across the work and draw the binding strip tightly around the margin thereof is effected by a spring 62 carried in a recess 64 formed in a raised portion 66 of the bracket 50. The extent of swinging movement is adjustably determined by means of a stop screw 68 carried by the right-hand arm of the bell crank 48 as seen in Fig. l and arranged to bear against the side of the raised portion 66.

The activation or energization of the spring 62 depends upon the movement of the hammer in the direction of the margin of the work and occurs when a screw also carried by the righthand arm of the bell crank contacts with a fixed member 12 illustrated as attached to the frame of the machine. This member 12 is shown in the form of a plate supported by an arm 14 attached by screws 76 to the arm in of the folding machine.

In the operation of the machine the partial folding of the binding l6.by means of the finger I 8 in cooperation with the creaser foot is supplemented by the action. of the hammer and anvil which turn down and. grip this binding against the work. This is done progressively and in small increments. During the feeding action of the hammer and. anvil the hammer descends into engagement with the work, moves forward- 1y with respect to the direction of feeding movement, away from the. operator viewingthe machine as in- Fig. 3, rises to an inoperative positionawayfromthe work, returns rearwardly out ofengagementwiththe work, and again descends into gripping engagement with the work, etc. to repeat the cycle.

Withv the novel mechanism herein described thenreturnmovement of the hammer out of engagement with. the work is accompanied by the engagement of thescrew 10 with the abutment 12 to draw. back the stretching member 40 and to. activate the spring 62-. In this condition the hammer and stretchingmember descend into engagement with the workv and because of the factthatthe serratededge 44 isslightly below the face .of the hammer, it engages the binding strip. first. andin the .portion thereof lying betweenthe creaser foot andthe hammer which will be pressed by the hammer during the. next cycle ofthe machine.- As the hammer starts forwardly, again in its work-feeding action the screw wjwillleave the abutment. 12 and the spring 62 will be effective to swingv the stretching member 40, 42, 44 across the binding. to give it anadditional Wiping and stretching' peration so that an extremely narrowjedge' of French binding will be vi sibleinthe finished shoe because of the tight foldingv ofthe French binding over the edge of the shoe upper. During this movement the extent of the movement of the wiping and stretching, member across the binding is limited by the coaction of the screw 68 with the raised portion 660i the bracket.

Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new amides-ire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

I. Ina machine of the character described, a folding member, work gripping and feeding mechanism movable along the margin of the work to feed it; said mechanismincluding a hammer-mounted; for movement to press the fold against the work, a work stretcher movably mounted on the hammer, and means to actuate said stretcher during its movement parallel to the margin of the work to stretch the folded margin tightly over the work.

2. In a machine of thecharacter described, a four-motion feed member farrangedfto descend into engagement with the work, to move forward with the work, to rise away from the work, and to return idly above the work, a work-marginengagihg member rotatably attached to said feed member, resilient means for moving said marginengaging member across the work, and fixed means for drawing said margin-engaging member back against the resilient means as the feed member approaches the end of its idle movement.

3. In a progressive folding machine, a workgripping mechanism comprising a hammer and an anvil, a folding member, a work-marginstretching means rotatably mounted on said hammer. to swing about'an axis approximately normal to the face of the hammer, and means for swinging said member across a portion of the work, closely adjacent to and preceding the portion engaged by the hammer.

4. In a folding machine, work-feeding mechanism comprising a hammer andan anvil, a folding member, a work-margin-stretching vmeans.

abovethe work and is movable toward and awayfrom the other member to grip the margin which has been partially folded, a stretching member movably mountedv upon that feeding. memberwhich is above, theworkfor movement transversely of the marginofthe work, said stretching member dependingaslightlybelow the workengaging. surface of said feeding member on the trailing side thereof, a-spring on said WOE-Kr-fGEdr ing v member urging said stretching member in one direction, an abutment on the machine, and an arm on said stretchingmember for engagement with said abutment to energize saidspring as .tliefeeding member approaches the end ofits idle, return movement.

r 6. In aFrench-binding,folding'machine, means for turning. up the marginof'the ,bindi'ng,'a coacting hammer and anvilj feed, acarrier pivotally supported on the hamrnenab'ove .the work, a.-

yielding stretching member secured to said car;-

rier' and depending onjithetrailingside of the hammer, a spring urging said stretching. member across the bindingtoward the inner portion-of the work, astop for determining'fth'e extentfof swinging movement of thejc'arrier, and janarmon the carrier for engaging a fixed portion of the machine to pull back the stretchingmember against the springafter said stretching member,

has been lifted above the work. I I I ALFONS osWALD.

. No references cited. 4 

